1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to hand tools for manipulating threaded fasteners, and more specifically to a combination tool having a working end for turning either slotted or hexagonal head fasteners. The tool is particularly adapted for use in plumbing work, for securing sinks and the like in a countertop by means of clips adapted for such purpose.
2. Description of The Related Art
Various specialized fixtures, attachments, clamps, etc. have been developed for use in the plumbing trade, and as a result, numerous specialized tools have been developed for manipulating those specialized articles. An example of such is the development of the built in countertop including one or more sinks or basins set into a cutout in the countertop. Such sinks conventionally include a channel on the underside of their peripheries, which accepts the expanded end of a bolt or other threaded fastener. The threaded portion of the fastener engages a clip or clamp, which secures beneath the edge of the countertop cutout. As the fastener is tightened, the clip pulls the channel along the underside of the sink periphery, downward securely against the countertop to secure the sink tightly in place.
Various different types of clips or clamps have been developed, but each functions essentially as described above. However, two different types of threaded fasteners are in general use for securing such clips. One type includes a slotted working end, having a diameter essentially the same as that of the threaded portion of the fastener. The other type includes a relatively larger diameter, hexagonal head.
To this point, plumbers have been required to possess two different types of sink clip tools for manipulating both types of fasteners. As is well known, such small hand tools are frequently misplaced, damaged, or taken from the plumber's collection, thus requiring the plumber to replace the tools. While any single tool may only cost on the order of a few dollars, the requirement for two different tools for the different types of fasteners, along with the frequency of replacement which often occurs, can add up to a significant cost to the worker over a period of time. Moreover, the time spent in seeking out the proper tool for a specific fastener, also adds up over a period of time.
Accordingly, a need will be seen for a combination sink clip tool which fits both slotted and hexagonal head sink clip bolts or fasteners. The tool may be formed as a single, monolithic unit with a slotted blade recessed into the bottom of a hexagonal socket, or may alternatively comprise a retractable socket which fits over the blade. A discussion of the related art of which the present inventor is aware, and its differences and distinctions from the present invention, is provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 887,644 issued on May 12, 1908 to Frank M. Jacobs describes a Tool For Connecting Up Electric Fuses having a central shank having a screwdriver blade affixed thereto and extending from one end thereof, with an axial handgrip affixedly extending from the opposite end thereof. A tubular member is coaxially sandwiched between the screwdriver blade shank and the barrel of the handle, and is biased by a spring to extend past the screwdriver blade. The tubular member includes a hexagonal socket at its working end, adjacent the screwdriver blade. However, the hexagonal socket is retractable past the screwdriver blade, so that the blade extends past the socket. Thus, no lateral guard is provided to prevent the blade from slipping laterally from the screw slot, as provided by the present tool. In the present tool, the screwdriver blade is always guarded laterally by additional structure serving as a guard to prevent the blade from slipping laterally from the slot of the threaded stud. Also, the retractable hexagonal socket embodiment of the present invention comprises an external barrel, rather than being captured between the screwdriver shank and an outer handle, as in the Jacobs device.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,318,088 issued on Oct. 7, 1919 to Charles H. Klein describes a Combination Tool having two opposite working ends with a handgrip in the center. The central shank includes a screwdriver blade at each end, with a hexagonal socket adjustably positioned thereover. However, the two hexagonal sockets can be rotated relative to the screwdriver blade, unlike the present tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,323,056 issued on Nov. 25, 1919 to John L. Hofmann describes a Combined Tool comprising a shank having a screwdriver blade at one end thereof, with a concentric tubular member surrounding the shank. The tubular member has a hexagonal socket on each end thereof, and may be telescoped along the shank and fixed in an extended or retracted position relative to the screwdriver blade. However, when the hexagonal socket is retracted relative to the blade, the blade is extended beyond the socket, unlike the present invention in which the blade is always at least slightly recessed within the surrounding hexagonal socket.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,677,473 issued on Jul. 17, 1928 to William W. Gast describes a Socket Wrench And Screwdriver having a telescoping tubular member disposed about a central shank. The central shank has a screwdriver blade at the working end thereof, while the tubular member includes a hexagonal socket formed at the working end thereof. The hexagonal socket is spring loaded to extend beyond the screwdriver blade, but the blade may be extended beyond the socket, unlike the present tool. Moreover, the Gast combination tool is adapted for use in valve adjustments for internal combustion engines, and as such, requires additional torque as in a conventional wrench used for loosening and securing the lock nuts in such work. Accordingly, the Gast tool includes a pair of lateral members to provide additional torque. Such members would render a sink clip tool unusable in the often tight confines below a sink and countertop, and accordingly, the present tool is devoid of such lateral or radial extensions.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,453,901 issued on Nov. 16, 1948 to Robert R. Gonsett et al. describes a Compound Wrench And Screwdriver, having an outer body portion with hexagonal sockets on each end thereof. A secondary, inner member includes smaller hexagonal sockets on each end thereof, and is telescopingly installed within the outer body portion. Finally, a screwdriver member is slidingly installed within the inner hexagonal socket member. The construction provides for the smaller socket member and/or screwdriver member to be retracted from within the outer hexagonal socket member at either end, to allow use of the larger outer hexagonal sockets. Alternatively, the inner socket member(s) and/or the screwdriver blades therein may be extended as desired: When the inner socket member is retracted at: one end, and the screwdriver member therein is extended, the screwdriver blade extends from both sockets, unlike the present tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,464,058 issued on Mar. 8, 1949 to Paul M. Rogers describes a Combination Wrench And Screwdriver having a configuration somewhat like a conventional wrench, i. e., with a handle extending radially from the axis of rotation of the tool. The elongate, radially extending handle precludes use of such a tool in the close confines beneath a sink and countertop, as noted further above in the discussion of the patent to Gast. Moreover, it is evident from FIG. 2 of the Rogers patent that the screwdriver bit may extend beyond the outer end of the hexagonal socket, unlike the inset screwdriver blade of the present sink clip tool, in both its monolithic and multiple component embodiments.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,566,543 issued on Sep. 4, 1951 to Edward J. Weglarz describes a Tappet Adjusting Tool having a radial or lateral handle therethrough, as in the Gast and Rogers discussed above. The Weglarz tool is thus unsuitable for use as a sink clip tool, for the same reasons noted in the discussions of the patents to Gast and Rogers. Moreover, the hexagonal socket of the Weglarz tool may be removed from the shank of the tool, unlike the permanently assembled structure of the present tool. Also, Weglarz does not disclose any limit in his tool to prevent extension of the screwdriver blade beyond the end of the hexagonal socket, whereas the screwdriver blade of the present tool is always at least slightly retracted within the surrounding hexagonal socket.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,177,910 issued on Apr. 13, 1965 to Julio A. daSilva describes a Tool Handle With Retractable Tool in which a plurality of telescoping, concentric hexagonal socket components surround a screwdriver blade or bit. The bit, and the various socket components, may be adjustably positioned to place any of their working ends at the extremity of the tool for use. This allows the screwdriver blade to be extended beyond the outer end of any of the hexagonal socket components, unlike the present tool. Moreover, the various components of the daSilva tool may be disassembled from one another, unlike the present tool, in which the components are either monolithic or are permanently secured together to preclude loss of any single component of the present sink clip tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,452,373 issued on Jul. 1, 1969 to James T. Vosbikian et al. describes a Combined Screwdriver And Socket Wrench in which the screwdriver shank has a hexagonal cross section, with a hexagonal socket fitting thereover and keyed to the shank by means of the mating hexagonal sections. The socket is free to slide completely up the shank to the handle portion of the tool, thus exposing the screwdriver blade and a considerable amount of the shank, unlike the present tool in which the screwdriver blade is always disposed within the walls of the hexagonal socket.
British Patent Publication No. 602,301 accepted on May 24, 1948 to Ernest T. Huntley describes An Improved Combination Tool having a small screwdriver blade or bradawl on a movable central shank, with a larger diameter housing therearound with a larger screwdriver blade at its working end. The larger blade includes a central passage therethrough, so the smaller blade may be extended therefrom. No suggestion is made of providing a hexagonal socket for the working end of the larger screwdriver, nor would such a modification be workable in the Huntley tool. The larger inner dimension of the hexagonal socket would not provide a sufficiently close fit for the smaller screwdriver shank to hold it securely within the outer structure. In contrast, the inner screwdriver blade and shank are formed as a single, unitary structure with the handle portion of the present tool, with the hexagonal socket being formed therearound, either integrally therewith or as a movable component.
German Patent Publication No. 3,016,932 published on Nov. 5, 1981 to Karl Lieser illustrates a tool having a double ended screwdriver shank removably housed centrally in the handle thereof, with a hexagonal socket disposed at one end of the handle portion. The screwdriver shank may be withdrawn from the handle, through the center of the hexagonal socket, to provide for use of the socket as desired. However, the inner dimension of the socket is relatively small, as it is used to key the relatively small diameter, mating hexagonal screwdriver shank in the handle. As in the device of the British patent publication discussed above, the Lieser tool includes a relatively movable screwdriver shank with a hexagonal socket immovably affixed to the handle, rather than forming the screwdriver blade and shank integrally with the handle as a single unitary construction, as is done with the present tool.
Finally, German Patent Publication No, 3,622,199 published on Jan. 7, 1988 to Georg Unger illustrates a screwdriver blade with a telescoping fitting at the working end thereof. The fitting is biased by a spring to extend past the end of the blade, but may be retracted so the blade may extend beyond the fitting, unlike the present tool. No hexagonal socket is apparent in the Unger tool. The fitting appears to be a retainer or guard, to prevent the blade from slipping laterally from a screw slot. The present tool also provides such a guard, but in a simpler construction with the guard component formed integrally with the blade, as a single unit.
None of the above inventions and patents, either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.